Meteņi
Part of Baltic religion |
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Meteņi (Latvian pronunciation:
Origins
The Meteņi celebration preserved the ancient traditions of New Year's Eve, because ancient Indo-European people celebrated New Year's Eve in mid-February. This came from the early Latvian word "meti", which meant turn of time, gauge. The original meaning is preserved in the word "laikmets" (era). Lithuanian word "metai" even now means "year".
Name in other languages
In Livonian populated regions and Riga, this celebration is known as Fastelavn (possibly originating from German Fastnacht - hunger night). Elsewhere, it is also called Lastavāgs, Aizgavēnis, Miesmetis, Buduļi Eve, and Pie Day. Lithuanians call it užgavėnės, while Estonians call it vastlapäev. To Russians and other Orthodox Christian peoples this festival is known as Maslenitsa (Russian: Масленица, Belarusian: масьленіца, Ukrainian: масниця).
Elsewhere in Europe and America, this festival coincides with the carnival time and referred to as Shrove Tuesday (French: Mardi Gras, German: Fastnachtsdienstag, Italian: Martedì grasso, English: Shrove Tuesday [citation needed]) or "Pancake Day".[1] In Latin countries, it is called carnival, carnaval or "meat balls", and it is the holiday of overeating, after which comes Lent. It is also has a connection with Roman Empire's time to celebrate traditions of April Fools' Day on April 1. During it happens a mask parade (masquerade), all sorts of performances, and immoderate blowout and drinking. To bid a farewell to Winter, they burned a year-old allegorical serpent or dragon, straw dolls, and logs, whose ashes are spread across the land so that the New Year would be fruitful.
Holiday traditions
Meteņi is about people eating and drinking as much as they wanted. During this time
See also
References
- ^ "Meteņi".
- ^ Masku tradīcijas latviešu kultūrā Inese Roze, Viewed February 26, 2016
- ^ "Meteņi ir klāt".